Apple was previously discovered to have introduced a delay in the CPU boost frequency, resulting in a slightly lowered single-core and multi-core score in exchange for better battery life. According to the A18 Pro results obtained when running iOS 18.1 beta 5, it was found that the company might have backtracked on its earlier decision because not only does the SoC post some healthy single-core scores, but it manages to come close to the M2's performance in the multi-core category, as you will soon find out.

The change in the scores was found out by reviewer Dame Tech, who often compares the performance of various chipsets, including the A18 Pro. On this occasion, he compares some Geekbench 6 scores and concludes that the new beta update that was made available to developers changes that way the CPU behaves. One of the results showed that the newest SoC obtains a score of 3,601 in single-core, followed by 9,388 in the multi-core result.

We have reported that the A18 Pro successfully trades blows with the M1 in multi-threaded workloads when running the same benchmark. With the latest update, if we make a comparison, then the M2 running in the larger 15-inch MacBook Air and boasting a significantly bigger chassis is not even 4 percent faster than the A18 Pro, making it a highly impressive showing for an SoC found in Apple's flagship iPhones.

The post above also shows that when running iOS 18.1 beta 5, the A17 Pro powering last year's iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max receives a decent performance push when running Geekbench 6, but it remains to be seen if Apple will stick by its decision when the official version of iOS 18.1 is released to the public. For now, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max owners can have another crack at performance bragging rights, but it should be noted that the A18 Pro continues to be slower than the fastest Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 tested so far.